Image of Turkey 2011 results were released

The Results of Image of Turkey 2011 Annual Survey covering 16 countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were announced to the general public in a press conference held by TESEV on the 2nd of February 2012, were well-received by the national and international media organizations, foreign affairs experts and academia.

“Image of Turkey Survey’ is an annual and regional public opinion survey; developed and conducted by KA Research Limited (KA) and Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation’s (TESEV) Foreign Policy Program. The survey program has been started in 2009; and repeated every year in MENA Region. 2011 Survey, the third wave of the survey program,was conducted in 16 Countries of MENARegion covering Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Tunisia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Yemen and Libya; between October 19th and December 15th, 2011; with a total sample size of 2,323 individuals.

Below are some of the highlights from the survey results:

Citizens in the Middle East and North Africa are hopeful. 62% of respondents said they felt more positive about the future of the region than they did 12 months ago. 60% felt that the Arab Spring had a positive effect on the region and 52% thought that the events of the last 12 months had a positive effect on their country.

Turkey is the most popular country in the eyes of the people of the region. 78% of people in the region had a very or somewhat favorable opinion of Turkey – higher than any other country questioned. For example, this surpasses favorable opinion of Saudi Arabia (64%), the UAE (70%), China (64%), Egypt (62%), France (46%) and the US (33%). Only in Syria is favorable opinion of Turkey lower than 50%. However, even in Syria, more than half of respondents believe Turkey has a positive impact in peace in the region.

77% of respondents thought Turkey has a positive impact on peace in the region; 71% thought Turkey should play a bigger role in the region.

Turkey is a model country. 61% of people in the Middle East consider Turkey a model for the region. Only 22% believe it is not. Support for the Turkish model is the highest in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt; the countries affected the most by the waves of the Arab Spring. The top three reasons why the people of the region see Turkey as a model are its democratic regime (32%), its economy (25%) and Muslim identity (23%).

Expectations for the Turkish economy are high. Saudi Arabia is currently seen as the region’s strongest economy, with Turkey being in the second order. However, Turkey is seen as the region’s upcoming strongest economy and the leader by the people of MENA Region.

Click here to access the full report of the Image of Turkey 2011 Annual Survey in Turkish; English version will be available soon.